A new, yet somehow the same, life
by CagedBird17
Summary: Takes place a few months after Sly 3. Carmelita finally caught on and kicked our hero out. When he goes back to the gang, he doesn't realize that there are new surprises hiding around every corner, including on Carm's side of the city. T for later chaps.
1. Homecoming

**Hi all! I'm sorry I've yet to upload any of my other stories, but trust me when I say I'm trying to do it! Spring Break is next week, so I may just upload everything!**

**Anyways, this is my first attempt at a Sly Cooper fanfic.**

**Sly Cooper and Gang belong to SuckerPunch.**

**Alicia and other characters belong to me and me only!**

* * *

Sly leaned against a wall, battered and looking defeated. All he could do was replay the last fight he had with his only love, the vixen Inspector, and hope to God that one of his former teammates found him before he collapsed or died of blood loss, or even worse, of a broken heart.

He looked at the badge that he absolutely hated now and, before giving it a second thought, threw it into the nearest dumpster and kept moving. However, by the limping he walked with and his ragged breathing, he knew that death was near.

'_I should never have lied to her about the amnesia… It was wonderful at first, but I didn't want her to love me for a stupid lie…'_ He thought as he tried to cross the nearest street. The rain was beating down on his tattered uniform from the Police unit where he was up until last night. Then she kicked him out, making sure to almost break a few of his bones.

What upset him the most was the tears; HER tears; the tears of pain and betrayal. Seeing her that way made him scared and guilt-ridden. He never wanted to make her cry, especially over him. He felt nothing now, and he knew that she didn't either. All he wanted to do now was just find a quiet place in Paris and die, his heart wrought with guilt, pain and sorrow.

Somehow, things never really worked out in his favor when it came to his own wishes.

He finally found the old safe house where he and his former gang hung out, before the start of it all. He grinned at the fond memories of Bentley and Murray, wishing to see them one more time and to tell them how hurt he was over what he did to them. He pressed his back against the wall and slid down. He clutched his chest and closed his eyes, the image of the vixen he would love forever etched into his eyelids.

'_Carm… I'm so sorry… I love you…'_ He thought as he welcomed death.

* * *

He opened his eyes and winced at the feeling of discomfort coming from his chest. Taking a quick glance around, he noted the starch white walls and the beeping of the medical equipment around him.

His ears perked up at the sound of the doorknob turning, and he was ready to make a run for it, but he noticed that his cane and clothes were missing. The only thing he had on was a robe. The door opened and in stepped in a woman.

She was a bit shorter than him, not more than two or three inches from his own height of six feet. Her long sandy blonde hair was curled and hung loosely down her shoulders, her side-swept bangs framing delicate honey brown eyes. She smiled at him, a kind and caring smile, and pulled up a chair. As she turned, he noted the fluffy tail the same color as her fur and hair, and he realized that it was another raccoon.

"How are you doing?" She asked him, her voice light and airy, like a bell. He seemed calmer now, thanks in part to her beauty, in part to her voice, and just lay back down on the bed.

"I've definitely been better. And who might this gorgeous face be?" He grinned, hoping to have some of his edge from all the flirtations from the previous years. She giggled softly, and he couldn't help but want to hear more of that soft giggle.

"Sorry about that. My name's Alicia. And you handsome?" She teased him back, the playful smile never leaving her lips. For some reason, his heart skipped a few beats.

"The name's… Sylvester James…" He didn't know whether to tell this young woman his full name, but something about her seemed like he could trust her not to spill the beans to Interpol. "…Cooper."

She didn't seem surprised or even disgusted that he was the notorious master thief. She just smiled kindly and held her coat to her chest.

"So _you're_ the Sly I've heard so much about. Nice to meet you." She grinned, making his heart stop for a split second. Why was he feeling this way towards this girl?

"My reputation precedes me." He flashed her a grin before wincing again. She giggled.

"Don't try flirting so much while you're in the hospital. They spent a few hours trying to make sure that all of your bones remained intact, and that you didn't suffer from a concussion." She told him, checking her watch.

"Got a date tonight?" He asked, wondering if she would leave and tell the whole world that the master thief was in a hospital bed. She shook her head.

"No, I'm just wondering when they'll get here." He gave her a confused look and then the door opened again, revealing two doctors. Both wore white coats over their bodies, and was one on a wheelchair?

"So Mr. James, how are you doing?" The one in the wheelchair asked, looking at the raccoon through his glasses. He recognized them and grinned.

"Just fine Doc. A few bruises, nothing much! I'll be up in a few days." He said, trying to sit up to get a better look at his friends. Alicia stood up and helped him, gently holding him up with her delicate fingers as she placed another pillow on his back.

"That's good then. Ms. Alicia, I believe that he's ready to head on out. Are you going with him?" The turtle asked. She nodded and handed the other doctor, a giant hippo, a small bag. The hippo smiled happily and stuffed the bag into his pocket, to save for later.

"Yes. I'll just help him grab his things and then we'll be heading on out." Both of the doctors nodded and began to leave, the turtle first. The hippo waved at the sow and left, closing the door behind them. Alicia then reached under her coat and pulled out Sly's blue thieving outfit.

"You might want to wear your disguise over this." She handed them to him and then added another pair of black shoes, a pair of comfortable jeans and a brown jacket.

"Thanks…" He put them on as she turned around, being too shy to look at him when he was changing, for obvious reasons. He tapped her shoulder and grinned. She nodded and handed him the Cooper cane and began to head out, but he stopped her as he grabbed her wrist.

"Alright, Alicia. Tell me who you are?" He asked, tugging her towards him. All she did was give him a teasing smile.

"My my, so forward Mr. Cooper. Is this how you treat the other women in your life?" He froze at the mention of the other women and let go of her wrist. She blushed at his reaction and remembered what she had learned from the others and took his hand with a gentle grip and squeezed it. He looked at her and she gave him a caring smile.

"I'll tell you about me later. Over coffee maybe?" She asked him, hoping to lighten his mood. He chuckled and nodded.

"Alright, coffee it is." They picked up the last of their things and left.

* * *

After a few minutes of walking outside, Alicia and Sly had reached a small building near the Eiffel Tower. She knocked cryptically on the door and it opened, revealing a turtle in a wheelchair. He let them both in and locked the door behind them. Inside was just the way Sly remembered it all.

The walls were covered in computer monitors, and some had moving bodies on the screen. One of them seemed to be off, and Sly knew why (even though he hadn't been there in months). Off to the side, a large body was looking at a TV, his fingers pressing the buttons furiously as the figure on the screen jumped, ducked and hid from the bad guys. Sly chuckled and slapped him on the back.

"So Murray, how've you been these past few months?" He asked his friend. Said man looked at his friend and grinned.

"Awesome. "The Murray" has yet to go hungry thanks to the amazing cooking ability that our Alicia possesses. Only thing that she cannot surpass "The Murray" in is video games!" He pointed to another screen where a paused game was in motion, and the second player seemed to be about two laps behind. Sly turned to the girl and she smiled, blushing softly.

"I-I was never very good at video games… So o-of course any one can beat me…" She told him as she placed her jacket on a coat rack beside the door and ran into the adjacent room. Sly tuned back to his friends, and immediately heard a scream.

He ran into the kitchen and saw what the scream was about. Alicia was trying not to cry as she inspected the damage to the kitchen. The walls were plastered with cookie dough, the counters covered in dirty bowls stacked upon one another. In the trash and littered about the floor were the burnt remains of what we can only hope are cookies. She swallowed back her tears and knelt down to pick up the scraps.

"Oh… Aly's back..?" Another feminine squeak came from the open door frame. A small mouse peeked inside, a grim look on her face as she tried to take off the sticky batter from her blond hair. She looked at the sow through her glasses and stepped in from under Sly.

"Aly, I'm sorry… I-I got caught up in trying to make you another hand mixer, and the batter went flying…" She explained as she grabbed a towel and began to try and clean the walls. Alicia sighed and smiled at her friend.

"It's alright Penelope. It was an accident." She picked up the broom, not realizing that Sly was still there. When she finally noticed, she turned a bright red and mumbled something in Spanish as she tried to clean up.

As she moved around the kitchen, Sly noticed that she had the whole thing under control. None of her movements were wasted as she cleaned up and avoided Penelope. Her reflexes were quite amazing too, seeing how she dodged the broom that fell from Murray's hands as he tried to help her out as well. She looked as though she herself was a descendant of the Cooper clan, but he knew that wasn't the case…was it?

As he was about to ask, he decided against it as the door opened once again, revealing a large panda and a smaller koala right behind him, both carrying bags of food. Alicia went over to them and thanked them for going out and she took the groceries into the kitchen, on a now-clean counter.

Instead of bothering with asking her, he went back to where Murray had gotten to and started to play video games with him.

* * *

About an hour later, Alicia tapped Sly on the shoulder. He looked up and met her honey eyes.

"Shall I call in that coffee date from earlier?" She smirked and stepped over to the door. "Come on. We're not needed here." She pushed a flowered hair pin into her hair and grabbed her jacket as Sly just laughed and took off his mask.

"Fine, fine." He followed her out and she led him to a coffee house a few blocks away. Penelope waited until they were both gone before starting to direct everyone else.

When they got there, both raccoons grabbed a booth near the back of the room. A waited came by and asked for their orders, and they both picked something to eat and a coffee to go along with it. As soon as he left, Sly turned to the girl.

"Alright Alicia, spill. How do you know us?" He asked, not really worried but curious. She took one of the straws that were sitting there and twirled it around her finger.

"Well, I'm a bit of a thief. I got fired from my old job because Louis thought that I was getting greedy." She sighed. "So I put up an ad on ThiefNet for a semi-decent thief, and Bentley contacted me a few days ago."

'_Which explains why she moves around so fluently and without wasted effort…'_

"Okay, sounds reasonable enough…" He commented as the waiter came back. He placed down their small meal and their drinks and bowed before leaving those two again. Alicia picked up her latte and took a careful sip as she tried to figure out how to tell him what was next.

"So, the Cooper Gang hired me as their stand-in thief, and when they discovered that I can be a bit of a home-maker, they decided to keep me on as Golden Goose and Head Cook for the meals. It actually is better for me. I enjoy cooking more than thievery, but I do what it takes to get by." She looked up as Sly was sipping his own black coffee.

"It turns out that my main mission these last few days was to monitor you." At this, Sly spit out his coffee.

"W-WHAT?!" She motioned for him to lower his voice. "You mean you were doing recon?" She nodded.

"Bentley thought that the Inspector was starting to catch on about your amnesia, so he wanted me to make sure that if she did, we could bail you out." She stared at her cup and he could see the hurt in her eyes.

"What I hadn't planned on was that you would have told her yesterday and ended it all. I found you right after you collapsed, it seems, and I took you to the hospital. Then you woke up after the bandages were up." She finished and set her cup down. She reached for the croissant that she had ordered and ripped off a corner of it.

"I'm sorry I couldn't go in and get you outta there before she attacked…" She told him in a quiet voice. He saw the look on her face and placed his hand under her chin to tilt it up so she could look at him.

"Don't worry about it. Happens all the time." He grinned and let her go back to her drink. As she ate, he couldn't help but run his eyes over her. She reminded him so much of her, and yet they were complete opposites. For one thing, Alicia was on his side, and she wasn't trying to shoot him at any given moment. She seemed like she wouldn't betray anyone who told her a secret, and most of all…

She was someone that he could relate to, in more ways than one it seemed.

"Hey, Aly?" He began, taking his own slice of bread and eating a bit. She looked up from the steam of her cup and tossed him a curious glance. He grinned.

"How about I take you out on the town tomorrow night?" He asked her. She turned a soft red and gave him a smile.

"Are you asking me out Sly?" She asked, leaning forward a bit so that she could rest her chin on her hands. He leaned back, that grin still on his face.

"Depends. Will you accept it as a friend, or as a co-worker?" She giggled and once again, he felt his heart skip a beat.

"If I said friend?"

"Then a date it is." She giggled and checked her watch.

"Sly, could you do me a favor?" She asked him. He looked at her curiously.

"Could you run out and buy me…" She tried to think of something. "…some cake supplies? I wanna make something for everyone later." He nodded and she handed him her card. "Thanks a lot. I'll meet you back at the safe house then?"

"You got it." They both paid for half of their meal (Sly wanted to pay it, but she wouldn't ask him to pay for her side) and left. As soon as Sly disappeared over the rooftops, Alicia ran back to the safe house, avoiding people and vehicles with ease.

When she arrived, the room was quiet until she spoke.

"How's it going?"

* * *

A few hours later, Sly finally came back (nearest store was about ten miles away). He stepped inside a pitch black room, but then he switched the lights on.

"SURPRISE!" He was shocked. Everyone was dressed up festively, and there were many dishes on the table. He looked at his friends for an explanation.

"It was Alicia's idea. She thought we should have a 'welcome back to the gang' party for you." Bentley explained. Sly looked over to the new girl and she gave him a smile, tugging on her red skirt.

"Welcome back, Sitting Duck." They all announced, making this the second greatest day in Sly's life.

* * *

**Next chapter is considerably shorter, and it will have our favorite Interpol officer, Carmelita!**

**Tune in,**

**CagedBird17**


	2. Faithful Reunion

**Hello! I've only gotten a few reviews for this story, but I don't mind. I like this game, and Kingdom Hearts, so even if I don't get many reviews, I still feel proud of all this work. Please look forward to future work!**

**Sly Cooper and other related characters belong to Sucker Punch.**

**Alicia and Inspector Kevin Zespedes are MINE.**

* * *

Carmelita glared at her reflection in the mirror. Ever since that night, she had cried, and now look at her! Old Ironsides, a mess and crying over a _GUY_ for God's sake. She had a little trouble putting on a small layer of makeup that morning, but she needed to get to work. Eventually, she found her bottle of water-proof mascara and laughed. She left for work, and when she got there, she noticed the door to her office open.

_'__Who in their right minds would sneak into a police officer's office in the daytime..?' _She grabbed her shock pistol from its holster and crept inside. She turned and aimed it at the intruder, only to see that he wore a badge of Interpol. Not only that, but even Barkley was there. She lowered her gun and apologized.

"Sir..?" She began. Said man took a long breath from his cigar and pointed to the guy next to him.

"Your new partner, to replace our loss of Constable Cooper." The man offered his hand and she took it.

"Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox. Pleasure."

"Inspector Kevin Zespedes. Same." They let go of each others hands and Barkley left to get those two acquainted and get the specs on their current target. Carmelita sat down at her desk and motioned him to do the same on the other side of the desk. As he sat, she got a good look at him.

He had the familiar air of a Latin country, more than likely Mexico. His light brown eyes were hard, but seemed to hide an interior softness, from what she could tell. He himself was a fox, just like her, only that his fur was a shade darker than her own, and instead of her lovely cobalt hair, he had straighter black hair. She watched him sit down and fix his uniform as she looked for a file on her desk.

Her eyes fell onto Sly's file and before even trying to hide her pain she picked it up and stuffed it into her desk drawer, the one that she _never_ opened. She locked it up again and sighed before searching her desk once again.

"Alright. When we lost the previous constable, we were tracking down a string of robberies…"

"The ones that have hit every bank and jewelry store in Paris, right?" He questioned, having a faint accent to his words. She nodded and handed him a few folders. Their fingers brushed past each other and she had the time to hide a soft blush. She didn't realize that he was quite this handsome, although nothing compared to her ex-lover. Her heart felt a pang of betrayal and guilt again but pushed it out of her head.

_'__He deserved it for betraying me, that stupid asshole. I…I thought he loved me…'_ She bit back a few tears and looked up as he called her name.

"Ms. Fox, is something troubling you?" He asked nothing but kindness in his voice. She saw nothing but concern in his eyes, but all she could do was nod and ignore the feelings in her heart and try to bury them again, like she had all those years that she began to have them. She sighed and looked up at the ceiling, having the look of a lost love in her eyes.

"I…I just got a bit too attached with my last partner. I'll… I'll get over it, don't worry." She gave him a sad smile and blushed as he placed his hands comfortingly over her own.

"Yes. You're a strong woman, both in heart and soul. I'm sure you'll find the happiness you want." He told her as he leaned back and began to flip through the folders she had given him. All the while she turned around her chair so that she would be able to see out her window and avoid a semi-awkward silence that followed his words. Not to mention the burning feeling she had on her cheeks.

'_Why is my heart acting this way? I haven't felt like this since _he_ held me last… And just why does this make me feel like I'm betraying him..?'_ She fought her tears once again and instead she wrenched her eyes away from the window.

Everything reminded her of her criminal. The remainders of the tokens of their love tossed this way and that in her apartment. His remaining clothes that he didn't get a chance to take as she hit him with the item in her hand that day, a bottle of wine. Her sheets continued to hold the scent of his body, as if doing he thing that she didn't want it to do.

She sighed and turned her eyes away from the window, another reminder of how he would sneak into her office late at night and leave her little tidbits of gifts; a rose, a small pendant, little things that she didn't really care for but thought the gesture was nice.

She turned to her new partner as he placed the last of the folders on her desk.

"Everything in order?" She asked. He nodded.

"Good. We leave this afternoon to their next location." She pointed to a photograph of a small jewelry store and made sure that her shock pistol was fully charged and ready to go to catch the thieves

* * *

That evening, both officers were lying in wait for the thieves, Carmelita where the register and safe were, Kevin next to the door in order to catch him the moment the thief even tried to enter the store.

Carm stood watch as the shadows only got longer and fatter as the evening rolled on. On the strike of midnight, a gas flooded the store, making visibility hard and breathing even worse.

The smoke was made up of poison, nothing too serious to kill anyone but strong enough to knock out anything. Carm and Kevin both buried their snouts in a par of gas masks that they had prepared beforehand and looked around, trying to get some sense of the situation.

While our two officers where trying to figure things out, a smaller shadow pushed into the store from an air vent and dove for the safe. The person quickly unlocked it, grabbed something, and then began to crawl back into the air vent, completely unnoticed by the officers.

A few moments later, the smoke cleared and Carm shouted in fury (and in Spanish) at how the criminal got away again, leaving nothing but a gold duck calling card. Carm saw the card and ripped it into shreds, being blatantly reminded of her former lover as the evening rolled on.

_'__WHY THE HELL CAN'T I GET HIM OUT OF MY MIND!'_ She felt like shouting to the world what she felt but knew better. Instead she looked inside the safe and inspected it to see what was stolen. She only noticed 14 Euros missing, which brought her back into the previous cases.

_'__At all the scenes, only a small amount of money has been stolen. It's always less than 40 Euros, and nothing else. Strange... Why would someone go and rob a jewelry store or a bank, and only take 14 Euros..?'_ She inspected the register and saw that it was untouched by the thief, and then turned to her partner. He wasn't there, but the door was open.

Outside, Inspector Zespedes followed the trail of the thief, realizing where the vent led and where the person would escape from. He had followed the shadow over the rooftops until he led them into a corner; a building with an extremely high wall. He panted and pointed his pistol at the shadow. The figure turned and gave him a playful grin, honey brown eyes visible even in the darkness.

"Well hello there. You're new, aren't you?" A soft female voice sounded through the cool night air. He pointed his gun at her, not to be swayed.

"And if I am?" She winked at him and walked towards him. The moon finally hit her, outlining her nice fit figure and her curly brown hair caught his eyes. Her honey brown eyes continued to sparkle in the moonlight as she placed her hands on her hips, showcasing her attire. Her brown tank top gave her the freedom of movement, and her miniskirt showed off her black leggings, retaining her femininity and still giving her the ability to outrun people.

He was brought back from his perverted thoughts with the sound of her giggle.

"Well, to welcome you to the business…" She walked forward, knowing that she captivated him with her body, "…how about I give you a present?" He gulped and looked at her as her ringed tail reached up and brought his hands down, pistol included. She gave him a flirtatious smile.

"Please close your eyes." She pressed her face close but nowhere near enough to do anything, easing him into it. His eyes drooped closed as she continued to mutter to his ears. She smiled and pulled away. She kissed his cheek and ran off, leaving the cop stupefied there on the rooftop as Carmelita showed up.

Said woman called out to the thief and gasped. In the shadow of the moonlight, there were two figures. She realized who this was and turned her gun to him, hating to admit that he looked good with the moon at his back. The other figure seemed to be a bit smaller, and from the dazed reaction her partner was having upon seeing it, she could tell the second figure was a girl.

"Hi there Carmelita. Didn't expect to see you out here tonight." His voice was deep and still sounding hurt, but seemed to maintain the flirtatious tone that he had for the past few years. She smirked, hiding the hurt in her eyes.

"The scene was just perfect tonight. I was just _passing_ by when I ran across you and your new _friend_ here." She kept her gun pointed at the couple, her eyes hard. He gave her a smile.

"True. By the way, let me introduce you two. Alicia, this is Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox, the woman who's been trying to get me into jail for the past few years."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Fox."

"Carmelita, this is Alicia, the new thief of the Cooper Gang, and my date for the evening." The girl giggled softly and shook her head.

"I'm sorry about that. He offered to show me around town, and I took it. I hope you're not upset Ms. Fox." Alicia said in a soft voice, showing her sincerity in her words and her tone of voice. Carm didn't take it well though. She still had her pistol pointed at the two, ready to shoot if they made any sudden movements.

Sly grinned and whispered something into Alicia's ear. The girl nodded and grinned, a similar smile to Sly's. Carmelita got ready with the trigger, giving them three seconds before she finally released the blast of electricity.

Time seemed to go in slow motion.

3…

Sly and Alicia dove for the cops. They both leaned in close to their opposite gender.

2…

They leaned in and laid a kiss on their lips, shocking both officers. Sly was more heartfelt and sorry for everything he did to her, wanting her to understand that he did it all for her. Alicia just did it to shock the man, but somehow she wanted it to be more.

1…

Both thieves pulled away and ran off. When the officers finally got over those kisses, the realized that they were handcuffed together, and that Carmelita's shock pistol had been kidnapped. She yelled into the night, cursing her lost love, trying hard not to cry and succeeding. They both got up as the rest of Interpol arrived. Carmelita checked her pockets and found that Sly had left them the key, along with another piece of paper.

She pulled it out of her pocket and her eyes started at it with some warmth.

* * *

Elsewhere, Sly was on the top of the Eiffel Tower with Alicia beside him. He had his arm wrapped around her shoulders, seeing as she was trembling from the cold.

"Today was nice Sly." She told him, resting her head on his shoulder. He chuckled and looked out towards the bustling streets, making the scene very romantic. He had always wanted to come up here with Carmelita, but he didn't get a chance to.

He actually was planning on proposing to her here, but things change, it seems. Instead he watched the streets before he felt a nice scent perk up his nose. It smelt like vanilla, and when he turned to Alicia, he got a strong whiff of it coming from her hair. It was her shampoo, he figured.

"Hey, Sly?" She spoke again, ruining the peaceful moment. He looked down and his caramel eyes met with her honey ones, and he couldn't help but be drawn in. She closed her eyes a bit and then pulled away.

"I-It's getting late… We should get going." She stood up and extended her hand for him. He took it and stood up, but before she could pull away he tugged her back and glued his lips to hers. She turned a bright red as he kissed her but she closed her eyes and melted into the kiss.

She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him close to her body. His hands traveled down her body and stayed on her waist, the feeling of her soft fur egging him on. When they finally pulled away, both were red in the cheeks, and Alicia had a questioning look in her eyes. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her.

"I… I don't want to think about Carm anymore… I gave up everything just for her, and she just sent me to the hospital the minute I told her I was lying about what brought us together." He looked into her eyes and she couldn't see past them to know whether he was saying the truth or just hurting from the rejection. She took his hands in her own and nodded.

"So then… You want us to be like Bentley and Penelope..?" She asked him, cupping his cheek with her free hand. He kissed her palm and nuzzled against it while nodding.

"Yes. I want to go out with you."

* * *

**Now, before anyone says anything, SLY IS STILL GOING TO BE WITH CARMELITA. I just added the other two for tension and competition...**

**...**

**Or did I?**

**Wait and see~**

**CagedBird17**


End file.
